Three Kingdoms: Wolong's brother-in-law, tricking Liu Bei into seizing Jingzhou

Chencang City.

At this moment, the city is busy.

Thousands of laborers were racing against time to transport all the food and fodder from the granary outside the city into the city.

On the four city walls, nearly 5,000 Han soldiers have taken up their posts, ready for battle with swords and guns in hand.

Hao Zhao stood at the west gate, holding a sword, his brows furrowed as he stared at the busy soldiers inside and outside the city gate.

"Will Cao Cao really come on the ice..."

Hao Zhao took out the imperial edict from his arms and read it again.

That was last night. Liu Bei had just delivered the imperial edict to him via a horse that traveled 800 miles at a time.

The imperial edict clearly stated Xiao Fang's prediction that Cao Cao would use his main force to launch a surprise attack on Chencang while the Wei River was frozen.

Liu Bei also ordered Hao Zhao to hold on to Chencang and guard the million hu of grain and fodder, waiting for the Han cavalry to come to the rescue.

Hao Zhao was surprised when he received the order, and immediately mobilized civilians to move all the food and fodder in the granary outside the city into the city.

After a whole night of hard work, only 70,000 to 80,000 hu of grain and fodder were left, which had not yet been moved into the city.

"General Hao, look! There seem to be traces of soldiers on the Wei River!"

The deputy general beside him pointed toward the southwest of the city and shouted.

Hao Zhao was shocked. He put away the imperial edict and looked up into the distance.

really.

Under the morning mist, above the Wei River not far away, there were vaguely dense black shadows, surging towards them in an overwhelming manner.

Soon, flags with the word "Qin" on them came into view.

More than 60,000 Qin troops, marching along the frozen Wei River from the east, had already flooded onto the north bank and were attacking Chencang City.

The Qin army is attacking as expected!

"Everything is just as the Prime Minister expected. Prime Minister Xiao is truly a god!"

Hao Zhao was sincerely impressed, then with a serious expression, he shouted:
"There's no need to move the remaining food and grass. Burn them all, leaving not a single grain of rice for the Qin army."

"All troops, retreat to Chencang as quickly as possible, pull up the drawbridge, and close the city gates!"

The order was passed down, the flags on the city walls waved, and the sound of gongs and alarms suddenly rang out.

The laborers who were carrying food and fodder hurriedly dropped their food bags and rushed into the city.

The Han soldiers in charge of supervision were much calmer. They lit torches and burned all the food camps around the city, as well as the remaining food and grass in the camps.

Then they threw down their torches and hurriedly retreated into Chencang City.

The city gates were closed and the drawbridge was raised.

The city of Chencang was thus closed.

Hao Zhaoze stood proudly with his sword in hand, leading 5,000 Han troops in full battle formation, watching the massive Qin army approaching.

The five thousand soldiers are all elite troops. They have cheered up and are ready to fight to the death to defend the city.

South direction.

The vanguard army led by Cao Cao was the first to land and rushed to the city of Chencang.

When Cao Cao saw the granary on fire and the gates of Chencang City were closed, he couldn't help but frown.

The best expected result did not occur.

As originally planned, the surprise attack was successful and the Han army in Chencang was caught off guard. They had no time to close the city gates and were killed by his army in one fell swoop.

In this way, the battle could be won quickly, and a million bushels of grain and grass in the city could be burned in one fire, and then the army could evacuate.

This is the best scenario.

The second-best scenario is that the Han army closes the city gates in time, and the hundreds of thousands of hu of grain and fodder outside the city are not moved into the city in time, and are all left to them.

Because they were traveling light, the Qin army only carried a few days' worth of dry food, and now they had less than seven days' worth of dry food left.

With the food and grass outside the city, their food and grass can be replenished. Then the army will besiege from all sides, and try to capture Chencang City in three days.

The result was only that the capture of Chencang was delayed by three or four days.

The current situation is that the Han army has closed the city gates and burned the food and grass outside the city.

The optimal and suboptimal situations all fell through.

This means that the Qin army, without any food replenishment, can only rely on the existing dry food on hand to forcibly capture Chencang.

"Your Majesty, I feel like something is wrong."

"Looking at the posture of the defenders in the city, it seems that they have been warned in advance and have made preparations in advance?"

A trace of uneasiness flashed across Xu Huang's face, and he immediately stepped forward to remind him.

This reminder hit the nail on the head for Cao Cao.

The experience of being at a disadvantage many times made him have a guess:
Could it be that it was that country bumpkin Xiao Fang who had predicted that he would launch a surprise attack on Chencang, and therefore had made preparations in advance?
Just when Cao Cao was feeling uneasy, thousands of Qin soldiers behind him had already rushed to the north bank with high morale and rushed towards Chencang City.

The arrow is on the string and must be shot!
Cao Cao had no choice but to put aside his guesses and worries, took a deep breath, and said sternly:

"At this point, those unnecessary suspicions are meaningless."

"No matter whether the big-eared thief is on guard or not, the defenders in Chencang City only have more than 4,000 people."

"Pass on my order, the army will surround the city from all sides. Spare no effort. Within two days, I will destroy Chencang City!"

"The first one to reach Chencang will be made a marquis!"

The emperor's encouragement and the generous reward of being made a marquis were so inspiring that the Qin soldiers were as eager to fight as if they had been injected with chicken blood.

Within an hour, all 60,000 Qin troops landed and surrounded Chencang City, making it impossible for any escape.

Immediately afterwards, Xu Huang, Wu Yi and other generals began to mobilize their troops and launched a tidal attack on the four gates of Chencang City.

A fierce offensive and defensive battle began.

Ladders were placed against the city wall, and the Qin army rushed up the city like a tide. In an instant, the city wall was densely packed with Qin soldiers.

Under the city wall, the Qin army's archers shot arrows like locusts, frantically killing the Han soldiers on the city wall in an effort to suppress the Han army's resistance.

The Qin army's offensive was extremely fierce.

However, the person guarding the city was none other than Hao Zhao.

He ran back and forth in front of the four gates, commanding five thousand soldiers, vowing to stop the Qin army from attacking the city to the death.

Flying stones hit the Qin soldiers on the ladders, wooden poles smashed them, and sharp arrows shot them to the ground...

The Han army's defense was impenetrable and well-organized, and coupled with the elite Han soldiers, they easily repelled the Qin army's attacks time and time again.

The Qin army attacked for two days, but not a single soldier was able to reach the top of Chencang City.

As the saying goes, the first attack is strong, the second is weak, and the third is exhausted. After repeated failures, the Qin army's initial fighting spirit was gradually exhausted.

On the third day, at dusk.

Cao Cao immediately stood in front of the west gate, staring at the stalemate in front of him, his brows furrowed and his face ashen.

"Your Majesty, although the Han army has only 4,000 men, Hao Zhaoji, who is guarding the city, is very capable and managed to hold off the siege of our army of more than 100,000 men."

"If this continues, it's probably not realistic for us to capture Chencang within three days."

Xu Huang, who was riding a horse, also had a solemn and anxious expression on his face.

"Hao Zhao, Hao Zhao~~"

Cao Cao gnashed his teeth and recited the name, saying bitterly:

"In the battle of Ye County, Huo Jun only had 3,000 soldiers and horses to hold off an army ten times larger than mine for three months."

"Now, another Hao Zhao has appeared in Chencang City!"

"Why are there so many good defenders under the command of the Big Eared Thief?"

Cao Cao clenched his fists until they crackled, and his confused and annoyed eyes were mixed with deep helplessness. (End of this chapter)